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I wonder if being public traded cant be used as a tool to say the company isnt private ?

Publicly traded doesn't mean owned by the gov't or a gov't entity. The 1st Amendment of the Constitution says the gov't can't infringe on free speech. Just like you can restrict speech within your own house, a company - private or public - can do the same. Neither can be told by the gov't that certain speech is not allowed.

Yes and no, the 1st amendment says the govt does not have the power to infringe on your preexisting right to free speech.

I am not sure where the govt thinks it can give corporations that power since the corporate entity is a fictitious person created by the govt.

Free speech is a right, the right to travel is a right corporations cannot prevent you from doing either. Arguably the internet is public property.

The line blurs when you offer the public access to your computers but no one has the right to curb your speech. Corporations might have the right to delete data but then they arguably lose the safe haven of simply being a service provider.

There is, however the concept of Privately Owned Public Spaces, which this is very close to, and given the government outsourced existence of the Public Access Channel, I'd be inclined to favor.

https://cooperativecity.org/2017/11/01/privately-owned-publi...

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